Bows and arrows have been with us for many milleneums; first as a weapon, probably for hunting, but inevitably for battle, even into the nineteenth century. After they were replaced as a primary weapon by guns and the like, they still retained their usefulness for limited hunting, and, sporadically, they became popular for target shooting, as a sport.
The original bows were of wood, and with man's inherent ingenuity, various types of wood were experimented with, and certain types of woods were chosen to provide improved flexibility and strength for the constantly-improved range and accuracy, and for the most consistent results. Also the bows varied in size and shape to acomodate their intended use. The short bows of the Tartar horsemen were most effective from horseback and at short range. The legendary english longbow with its "cloth-yard" arrow was superior in range and accuracy for a standing archer.
The development of bows continued over many centuries. However, the bow, as with everything else in our culture, also responded to new materials and developments. Metals, and the newer reenforced plastics provided stronger and lighter materials for the bows, and compound actions for the bow strings or cables made the newer bows more compact and versatile. Improved sighting devices and techniques also improved the accuracy.
As a result of the considerable improvements in bows, and particularly in recent years, the bow has come back as an alternate weapon for hunting. in fact, we now have separate seasons set aside solely for bow hunting, and some of the modern bows are as effective, and almost as accurate as the conventional guns.
However, one of the awkward problems, particularly in hunting with a bow, is keeping the bow and arrow at the ready. When game is sighted, usually after many hours or days of stalking, there is often only fractions of a second to aim and shoot at a startled specimen of game. The problem is keeping one end of the arrow nocked against the string, and at the same time holding the body of the arrow on the arrow rest above the handle of the bow while the bow and arrow are carried for an unpredictable length of time.
The arrow could be held by a finger, but for hours of stalking, this is not practical, feasible, or workable. Many hunters, presumeably, will have developed ways of holding the arrow in a nocked condition and releasing it before drawing the bow string and releasing an arrow, but this takes time, and even a fraction of a second can make a difference in the possibility of hitting a target that can accelerate in the same span of time.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a device that can hold an arrow, indefinitely, in a nocked position, on the arrow rest, ready to shoot, and that automatically frees the arrow for shooting as soon as the string or cable is drawn back for shooting. It is a further object of this invention to provide a simple, effective device that holds an arrow in its shooting position on a bow, yet releases it, automatically, as soon as the bow is drawn, for firing in the usual manner. These and other objects will be realized by the device described in detail in the following specification and claims.